eaking news tonight, we're getting word of at least five police officers shot and an active shooter rampage in south carolina. a major emergency response underway, first responders flooding the area, people being warned to stay away. we'll have a live rt re also, the supreme court clfhanger. the fbi's report could be sent to the senate and lock in a secure room. what did the feds find and will you get to hear it as nbc news learned dozens of s potential witnes were won't interviewed.'t interviewen't e. backlash after riresident trump mocked dr. ine blasey ford. >> how did you get there?

>> i don't remember. >> he angers key republican senators need that need to vote yes. "the new york times" responds after they find years of tax screams and out right fraud used by the trump family revealing how the president n to build his fortune. and breaking news, the feds have made an arrest after that major scare at the pentagon. and it was a spectacular escape caught on camera. plucked from the prison yard by a helicopter. tonight the so-called jailbreak king capture a dramatic showdown. >> announcer: this is "nbc nhtly news" with lester holt. good evening, everyone. we start tonight with breaking news out of south carolina where we're just getting word of at least five law enforcement officers shot and what's being described as an active shooter rampage. it's triggering a major emergency response in florence, h reorolina. people being warned to stay away from the area. we get the breaking details now from nbc's kerry sanders. reporter: it's

unclear what set offs the shooting. >> we have an officer down at this time. >> reporter: as many as five officers may have been shot. three florence coushy iff's deputies and two city officers wounded in the altercation. during the anxious minutes, chaos. but then late this afternoon, frence county, south carolina emergency management is in custody.ect the area remains mostly csed as the scene is now considered an active investigation. tonight the local spital that is treating the wounded officers has not released their conditiole. er? >> all right, kerry sanders, thank you. there is signs tonight indicating the fbi may have completed its background investigation into judge brett kavanaugh, amid allegations of uc sexual misco against him. tonight with senators eagerly aw to review the findings ahead of an expected vote this week, we're learning more about who the feds did and didn't talk to. our petealexander has late details. >> reporter: tonight,

just 48 hours ahead of an a possible vot with top republicans saying they expect to ive the fbi's completed background investigation as early as tonight, nbc news is learning more about that investigation and that it remains significantly limited in scope, according to a senior u.s. official and two other sources briefed on the investigation. agents have spoken to brett kavanaugh's high school friend mark judge and the two witnesses at the alleged party where she says she was sexual assaulted by kavanaugh. as well as a second accuser, debra ramirez, kavanaugh thvigorously denies allegations and now e learned the fbi has interviewed at least one other high kavanaugh but current and former fbi officials tell nbc news dozens of others have come forward saying they have information on s avanaugh but the soury agents have not been permitted to talk to many of them. um president trp is further alienating the rsery republican senato he needs to support the supreme court pick. >> i don't approve of

the comments from last nighi ought they were wrong and extraordinarily unfortunate. >> the president's comments were just plain wrong. >> it's just not right. it's just not right. i wish he hadn't of done it. i say it's kinof palling. >> reporter: that fierce backlash in response to these comments from the president st night mimicking ford to his supporters delht. how did you get home? i don't remember. whereas the place? i don't remember. how did you get there? i don't remember. how many years was it? don't know. what neighborhood was it in? i don't know. where is the house? i don't know.st uprs, down stairs, where was it? i had one beer, that's the only thing i remember. >> reporter: the president's sudden shift in tone just days after he praised ford. >> she looks like a very fine woman to me, very fine woman but certainly, she waa credible witness. >> reporter: white house officials are challenging criticism last night the

ford's account of her alleged sexual assault. >> excuse me, she's been treated like that all of us beginning by me and the president. he'soiing out fact we inca inc incontan sis. >> it seems to me he was starting facts laid out in her lf testimony. >> reporter: dr. ford still wants an fbi interview and her d lawyers say she wo give the fbi her therapy session notes senate republicans are demanding if she gets one and toniret blican leaders say background checks are confidential and kavanaugh's will not be made public. lest from thee from th from the capitol hill in this release, all eyes on mitch mcconnell over a possible vote. kasie hunt is on the hill, kasie, what are youre hearing t >> reporter: lester, that's right. it's a very tense week here on capitol hill, protesters cononting senators and many senators traveling with security guards

through the hallways. the fbi report is going to be locked i a safe, only senators and a hand full of their staff will be able to access it and they will haveo do it in a secure room or have it taken especially to their office. this is, of course, the crucial information that those y critical swing vote senators were looking for that will allow mitch mcconnell to take thcritical next steps, possibly setting up a vote as soon as friday. lester? >> kasie hunt ca tol hill, thank you. president trump and the white house firing back tonight after a bombell "new york times" investigation taking a deep dive into the president's family k inances and reporting they trt in tax schemes and possible fraud to increase his wealth over the years. here is c news white house correspondent kristen welker. >> reporter: it's the narrative that helped sweep president trump into the white house, a self made billionaire with a little help from his real estate mogul father. >> i started off in a small office with my father in brooklyn and queens. >> reporter: but an explosive report by

"the new york times" paints a very er dit picture. "the times" obtained tens of thousands of pages of financial records, documents nbc news has not had the opportunity toreview and they had a pattern of deception saying much of the money came to mr. trump becae he helped his parents dodge taxes and they set up a sham corporation to disguise millions of dollars in gifts from their parents and the paper's entire documentation presented for show time. >> trump's state tax retu is in the building now. it's incredible we have it. that opened a door and when you pull the string, the whole thing unvelled. >> reporter: while candidate trump boasted, "the times" says his father actually loaned him $60.7 million at the time and suggestions that's not all he got. course of his life, mr. trump received the ay equivalent tf $413 million from his

father's real estate empire making a millionaire by age eight and "the times" says he and his igfamily avoided baxhi in their wealth by engaging in questionable schemes. the paper calling the most overt fraud a company created by the trumps in the early '90s that siphoned millions of dollars from frep's empire by manipulating prices and pouring the price into a shell company. saying the transactions were handled and approvby ax professionals, not family members. the white house firing back. t' >>an old attack on an old story. one thing the article got right it showed the president's father had a great deal of m. confidence in >> reporter: was any oft illegal? >> i don't think it's proof positive they submitted falscu nts. i think it shows there was gross manipulations of the evaluations. it looks amazingly suspect. >> reporter: the new york state tax department is investigating.

highly unlikely 's president trump would face any charges given the statute of limitations in a tweet the president called hit piece. a boring lester? >> kristen welker, outside the west wing tonight, thanks. more breaking news, thfeds have made an arrest tonight in the search for whoever sent suspicious letters to the pentagon and white thought to possibly contain lethal poison. they are looking into if even moreere nt. we get late details from our justice correspondent pet williams. >> reporter: federal ents late today searched this home of a logan, utah man later arresting hi 38-year-old william c allen, iii. formal charges to come friday. law enforcemen officials say none of the letters he's accused of sending actually included the deadly poison cin despites s ts t s ts t positim field tests.

instead, the envelopes contained crush beans, the raw material refined to make rice but the beans would have to be eaten. the firsletter was discovered monday for a facility on this military base that screens white house mail and it contained a note that made no sense. two more were found at the offsite facility that handles mail sent to the pentagon. they contained crush caster bea. investigators say they now believe a letter containing a white powder received sterday at the houston campaign office of senator ted cruz is not related to this suspicious mail found in washington. law enforcement officials say tonight they identified william allen as a suspect in part because his return address was on the suspicious letter sent to washington. none of the three found so far were considered hazardous but sending any mail intended to intimidate or threaten is illegal.er le >> pete williams in the washington newsroom. thank you. all across the ercountry today wher you were, there is a good chance your routine was interrupted by an alert and a text message on your cell phone. it was the first test of the new presidential alert system for national emergenc

most people got it but not everyone. nbc's tom costellodeas ils. >> reporrom coast-to-coast, the alert came at exactly . he same moment. 2:18 p the east, 1:18 in the midwest d :18 pacific time. while fcc rules prohibit us from airing the alert nes, 225 million devices were supposed to have received the t test of the presidential alert system from new york. >> i hope it's not a sign of things to come. >> reporter: to chicago. >> the president can xt us? >> reporter: i thought like what now? to l.a. >> i panicked. i wasn't se what to think of it. ter: after 2:20 the alert hit every radio and tv nationwide. the ultimate goal to reach every american simultaneously in the event of a national emergency. from natural disaster to a terror attack to a disease epidemic. bill btman. >> information and public safety

situations, whether it be a fire, earthquake, terrorist attack is essential. it's the lifeline, if you will. >> reporter: not everyone did receive a text. fema says it w hoping for a 75% success rate. it will now review the test to determine who didn't get a message and why. as it brings a 201 upgrade to the national alert system. tom costello, nbc newswashington. first lady melania trump is in gha on her first solo international tour through africa. today she visited the 17th centuortress where slaves were traded. mrs. trump called it an emotional experience that she'll never forget. >> the prisons that i g aw is really somethople should see and experience and what happened so many years ago. trt's really a tragedy. >> mrsp is scheduled to visit . enya and egypt during her to ng now to a gro

mystery in maine, a wife and mother, beloved elementary schoolteacher vanished in the middle the night. authorities with few clues searching through the woods and her family pleading for answs. we get details from nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: in the wooded fields of maine, search teams are growing more th desperate foe days there has been no sign of kristi kristin westra, the 47-year-old mother and beloved elementary school teacher that vanished from her home. worried sick. y >> my wife is loved. my wife is loved dearly. >> reporte westra says his wife was anxious and stressed when she went to bed at 8:00 p.m. sundayight. when he woke up at 3:30 a.m., he says kristen was gone and thought she went to sleep in another room. monday morning h car, cell phone and keys were all home. friends setting up a website for the missing mother of o. >> kristin, no matter what, come home.

we've always taken care of everything. >> reporter: from the air and on the ground, av search teams scoured miles of land now they are sifting through a construction dogs.with search >> leads are coming in and we're searching everywhe. >> reporter: tonight a startling disappoiearance and a deepening mystery, what happened to kristin westra, miguel almaguer, nbc news. an update to a daring escape we told you about out of a movie. w authorities finally took down the infamous gangster known as the jailbreak king. do you have a rewards credit card? you may not be able to use it soon at some of your favorite stores or online. that can disrupt your routine for weeks.

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next tonight, they call him the jailbreng the notorious gangster that escaped prom a prison for the secon time using a helicopter for his daring get aw away. now his time on the run is over. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard p engel on howice finally captured him. >> reporter: french li po put out this photo to prove they finally had their man. redoine faid. most wanted and most elusive criminal taken down inside this disheveled fifth floor apartment in his de hometown out paris. the challenge now, how to keep him in custody. the bank robber is a houdini of jailbreaks. polices kidnapped a helicopter pilot forcing m to fly innto a prison yard. men black using power tools to break him out. fellow inmates cheering as the chopr whisked him away to a nearby get te away car, lafound torched. it was his second escape. he said he's a fan of american gangster movies. >> we're here for the

>> reporter: he's watched the robbery scenes in heat 100 times for ideas. french police say in his hideout, they found multiple cell phones, wigs to disguise identity. tonight he's locked up again under what police say is extremely tight rveillance. richard engel, nbc news. coming up as we continue tonight, the alert about your rewards credit card and big retailers like amazon and target and the nightly spotlight, why kids love this author's best selling critically acclaimed movie. little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring.

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back now with news every rewards credit card holder needs to hear. they often come with perks like cash back and airline miles, but soon you may not be able to use it abig me retailers. jo ling kent explains. >> you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase every day. >> 1% when you buy and

pay. >> you can book any airline, any time. >> reporr: soon the popular credit cards with enticing wards may not beccepted everywhere you want to be. target, amazon and home depot have been fighting for the right to not accept some visa and mastercards and their long-running lawsuit t the card companies and major banks may be close to a resolution. the issue the retailers say is the cards often carry high intercha swipe fees they have to pay. home depot telling nbc news in a statement, the problem with the high interchange fees is the end result is higher prices for consumers. 92% of all credit card purchases in the u.s. are made with rewards cards and currently credit card companies dictate stores must honor all cards from visa and mastercard regardless of the perks. >> the potential ramifications are huge. if you go into a il re and can't use the credit card that's in your wallet, that

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janssen wants to help you explore cost support options. > finally tonight, we're shining our spotlight on the best selling book that's a critically acclaimed ormovie and the au behind it all whose powerful message that connected with young people across the country. this is how the hate you give begins. >> you got to look calm.

answer they questions but don't give extra anything. >> a father and children given step by step instructions if pulled over by the police what to do. the film is based on the best selling novel by 30-year-old angie thomas. nser first. whatred you to write this? >> i was inspired by the shooting death of oscar grant in 2009 and my anger and frustration and hurt, i only knew to do one thing, that's write. >> the unarmed grant was shot and killed by a california police officer. thomas' novel is also about the shooting of a young unarmed african american. >> out of the car. >> witnessed by his friend, 16-year-old star carter. >> what did you do? >> thomas drew on her growing up in a gang plagued neighborhood in jackson, mississippi and attending a mostly white school. >> i often tell people i left my house in pltupac and by the time i got to school, i was st liing to the jonas

brothers because that's what i had to do to fit in. >> navigating two worlds. >> exactly. >> that's what star does. >> exactly. >> star is played by 19-year-old amanla. w whe you thoughts? >> my god, i've never seen anything that represents my experience so accurately. >> a feeling echoed by many readers at a recent book signing. >> hi. >> hi. >> the hate you giv"hate you " is my favorite book because it's the realest thing i ever read. t >> thomas sat's exactly why she wrote this story, to help every kid feel a little less powerless and misuerstand . >> i want them to hear me say i understand your fear, anger, frustration and hurt. you have value. >> it's a powerful story many will find incredibly relevant. angie thomas is drawing her teenage

experience with her second book due out xt year. that's "nightly news" for this wednesday. i'm lester holt, for all of us at nbc news, and good night.tching

>> i'm not letting go. >> that's very cool. >> another first for the duke and duchess, and just wait until youea hr what one little royal admire confessed to harry. >> two, one.